Better Off In Love (Peterick Au)

Hayley Williams is a Pain In The Ass

Pete liked feeling like he had the upper hand in a situation, and for the last couple of days, Hayley still refused to tell him what she'd spoken to Patrick about, or anything that had happened that evening, and it was driving him a little insane. He considered messaging Patrick to ask him, but he didn't want to seem weird, and Patrick hadn't messaged him after the party. Maybe getting Hayley to invite him had been a mistake.

Pete was fairly sure it had been a good party in all other aspects, though. The new band seemed nice enough, as far as he could remember, and if Hayley approved he did too. He vaguely recalled chatting to Lynn about her being so openly gay, and although he couldn't remember much of his thought process from the night, he suspected that might have helped him in his sudden decision to come out to the reporters outside the party. That, and the many shots he'd taken with Patrick. He remembered that much.

It was weird to think about how they'd managed to suddenly reconnect like this. Although they'd been inseparable in high school, they'd kind of drifted after they left, as so many people did. They'd messaged back and forth a few times, but over the following year or so the messages had come with bigger gaps between them, until they didn't come at all.

Pete had been busy quickly becoming one of the most iconic faces in pop punk, but despite their lack of contact, he still managed to find time to think about the cute boy whose attractiveness he'd somehow never fully appreciated when he had him to himself. He'd kept far too close tabs on Patrick's social media over the last few years, smiling as his increasing confidence came across in the pictures he took, and when Pete noticed his popularity as a musician rising he felt almost prouder than he was of his own career. Pete had always known his friend was a talented singer, but he was painfully shy about his skills. He would have been more surprised if Patrick hadn't risen to fame than at him doing so.

Pete would never admit it, but he'd attended a couple of the Soul Punk gigs, sneaking in at the back just before Patrick came on stage. No one had seen him, and he'd snuck out again halfway through the last song. He admired the clear passion of the fans there, in the smaller venue - Patrick was still only a relatively new artist, even with all his newfound success. It had felt like his heart was beating out of his chest, seeing the emotion that Patrick poured into every word. As he listened to the music, he wasn't certain if it was his narcissistic tendencies or if the lyrics Patrick had written really did seem to parallel some of the things they'd experienced together and that thought made his heart race like it hadn't in years.

Pete had been feeling cheeky when the first single from Patrick's upcoming second album was released. The tweet had been at least a little risky, and he knew it, but it had presented him with so many opportunities to see the man that he was definitely having growing feelings for.

There was something about Patrick that made him want to hold his hand and do all that gross couple-y shit he used to lay on his bed with Patrick and laugh at other people for doing. Maybe it was the cheesy high school sweetheart, aggressively heterosexual way they'd all been doing it that had made it so laughable. Maybe it was the fact that he was starting to wonder quite how long his feelings for his old friend had been there before he noticed them that was making it all suddenly seem so appealing.

All he wanted right now was for someone to tell him what had gone on at that party, because he had a horrible feeling he'd done something stupid. And Hayley really needed to tell him whatever it was that Patrick had told her, because she was lording it above him like anything, and it was driving him insane. If he couldn't find someone to tell him soon, he was going to have to message Patrick, which honestly didn't seem like that bad of an option.